But the final shot never came. Seconds later Adrian heard the rifle clatter to the ground. He glanced up to see that Trevor was now looking in horror at the large patch of ice on the deck next to them. As far as the detective could see, there was nothing to be seen in the ice but his adversary's reflection, which was a perfectly normal one at that. Whatever Trevor saw in his own reflection, however, was apparently too horrible for words. "What did you make me do!?" he mumbled in fear at the reflection, "OH GOD IN HEAVEN, WHAT DID YOU MAKE ME DO!!"

"That's it, Trevor, fight Anthony's influence," Adrian urged him on out loud.

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM YOU IDIOT!" it was definitely Trevor's voice that came out of his mouth, but somehow it seemed darker and less human, "IT'S ANOTHER ONE OF MONK'S TRICKS!! HE'S YOUR ENEMY! KILL HIM!!"

He picked up the rifle again and took aim at the detective. "NOOO!!" Trevor's normal voice cried out as he jerked the gun up in the air at the last moment, "You've hurt enough people! I can't let you hurt anyone else!"

"THIS IS MONK!" screamed the darker voice, "HE RUINED YOUR LIFE!!"

"Don't you get it!" screamed the good voice, throwing the gun away, "He didn't ruin my life; you ruined his! Can't you see what happened to him when he lost his wife!? No one should have to live through what he has to!!"

The rifle clattered over to the stairwell, where Charlie scooped it up. He dashed over to his brother and pounded the handle against the handcuffs until they broke off. Don grabbed it and took aim at Trevor. "On the ground in three or I shoot and shoot hard!" he roared at his captor, "One, two...!!"

"NO WAIT!!" Adrian stumbled into the rifle's path, "He knows who killed Trudy!" He turned back to his adversary, "Tell me Trevor, who hired you to assist Tennyson!?"

But Trevor no longer seemed aware of anyone else's presence but his other self's. "Look at what you've done!!" he cried, gesturing at the prisoners still on the platform, "You tried to kill my wife, my son...!!"

"HE'S NOT YOUR SON!!" bellowed the evil voice, "HE'S BETRAYED YOU AS MUCH AS SHE HAS!! YOU DON'T OWE HIM ANYTHING!!"

"Yes I do!" Trevor's normal voice bellowed back defiantly as he drew a knife, "I owe it to him to make sure you can never hurt him or anyone else ever again And I will!!"

He lunged forward towards the edge of the tower. "Watch it!" Jack yelled at the women and children, who froze up. There was a swishing, and everyone took notice that Trevor had cut the ropes to the nooses. He looked right at his bewildered wife and son with a deeply remorseful look. "I love you two so much, really I do," he whispered regretfully, "I'm so sorry I couldn't stop him before. Forgive me for everything if you possibly can. I hope this can help in some way. Just please don't forget me."

"NO, STOP, YOU FOOL!!" the evil voice cried out as he started climbing up on the railing. Adrian realized what was about to happen. "No Trevor, don't!!" he shouted, rushing as hard as he could across the observation deck, "Tell me who killed her!"

But he was too late. Trevor pitched himself over the side, his evil self screaming in terror all the way down. Adrian slumped in disappointment against the railing, saddened that it had to end this way. He dared to glance over the side. Even the briefest glimpse made it clear that only direct divine intervention was going to bring Trevor back this time. But yet, the detective wasn't all sad. He'd managed to save the man's soul in time, and he'd at least gone out in the light. That had to count for something.

This happened to be the last thought to enter his mind, for his strength now left him, and he slumped to the deck and entered the blackness.

---

He was back in the bright field when he woke up again. "It's all right, Adrian, you did good," came Trudy's happy voice above him. She helped him up and gave him a warm kiss. "I knew you would save everyone."

"Is he...?" Adrian wanted to know.

"He'll be here eventually," she told him, "Thanks to you, he can now rest in peace like me. Come on, I want you to meet someone else you made happy today."

She took his wrist and led him over the nearest hill. Standing on the other side was an attractive middle-aged woman whom Adrian recognized even though he'd never seen her before. "So you're Margaret Eppes?" he greeted Don and Charlie's mother.

"Adrian Monk, thank you so much," she greeted him joyfully, "It just wouldn't have been right to meet my sons again so soon after..."

"I know, your husband told me what happened," Adrian related, blowing the white spores off a nearby dandelion after noting there was no way he could fix the odd number of spores without ruining the whole thing, "They, they did good too, I couldn't have solved this one without their help. You must still be proud."

"I am," Margaret nodded, deep pride embedded in her face, "Listen, I want to tell you, Monk, Trudy here's told me how you feel about her and life and relationships in general. I want to tell you, don't hold onto her too long. I told Charlie myself when I visited him a year or so ago, you can't hold on forever. You can't forget how to live, especially when you've got so many people who care for you down there, even if you aren't aware of how much they care."

"But can I go back?" Adrian once again checked for a non-existant pulse.

"It's your choice whether you do or not," Margaret informed him, "You could go back. Or you could stay here and never worry about a thing at all for the rest of eternity."

Adrian glanced at Trudy. "I'm sure you know, there've been days I'd give anything to be here now with you forever," he told his wife, taking her hand gently, "There were times all I wanted to do was join you again. But she's right, I know now; I still do have so much to do back there. I, I hope you're not disappointed at all."

"Why would I be disappointed?" she put a warm hand to his cheek, "There is no greater joy in human existence than living, Adrian. We have all eternity for each other. Besides, what fun would it be if you didn't worry about anything? Now go on, go back to the people you care for. And merry Christmas, Adrian."

She gave him another kiss, and the detective found himself slipping into the ground as if it were liquid.

---

His eyes slowly opened again. He was staring at the stark white ceiling of the hospital. There was a burst of tears to his left. "Oh thank God!" Jack threw his arms around his son, "Oh God, I thought I'd lost you again!"

"I, I didn't want to go anywhere, Dad," Adrian hugged him tight, glad that he had gotten to know the man again, "Is, is everyone else all right?"

"Thanks to you, they certainly are," Ambrose was seated to his right. "Hey, come quick, he's awake again!" he called excitedly out the door. A small stampede ensued as the rest of Adrian's associates streamed in. Some of them had bandages on themselves, or needed walkers to get around, but they were going to live, and that was all Adrian cared about. "Welcome back, Mr. Monk," Julie gave him a huge relieved hug, "We were all so worried."

"Don't ever scare us like that again, Monk!" Stottlemeyer shouted in relief at him. His expression then noticeably brightened, "I know you and I, we don't get along well all the time, but I...what I'm saying is..."

He's saying you're like family to us, right Captain?" Disher finished the sentence for his superior. "Good to have you back, Monk," he shook the detective's hand warmly.

"Good, good to know you're all going to make it too," Adrian glanced at the window, where it was still snowing hard outside, "Is it Christmas Day?"

"Ten thirty in the morning on the most wonderful day of the year," Alan slid up and clapped the detective on the back, "I can't thank you enough, Monk, thanks to you I get to share the holidays with both my boys. I don't know how you managed to talk that guy out of it, but you're a genius in more ways than one."

"It, it was nothing, really, just something I've come to realize over the years," Adrian glanced around, "Where's...?"

"Good, you're awake," the nurse had entered, "It's time for your tetnus shot, Mr. Monk; we wouldn't want any infections from those bullet wounds, would we?"

She hefted a needle and squirted some liquid out the end. Adrian leaped a good ten feet in the air. "Ac, Actually, I'm, I'm, I'm just fine!" he said hyperactively, rushing, straight for the door, "You, you can find someone else to give it to, I'll, I'll get by good without it!"

He barrelled down the hall until he was sure he had lost her. When he braked to a stop, he was inside the visited room. It was there that he noticed Natalie was standing by the window with the Flemings and Turcottes. Fortunately, they seemed in reasonable condition given what they'd been through the previous night. He cautiously approached. "You, uh, taking everything all right?" he asked softly.

"Why didn't he tell me he had multiple personality disorder?" Sharona was actually crying over her husband's fate for the first time since Adrian had known her, "And why couldn't I see it? I could have gotten him help, I could have saved him before everything went..."

She couldn't finish. "You did everything you could," Natalie put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "Some things you just can't see in time. It doesn't make you any less of a wife. Just remember when things were good, and you'll get through it. And remember, he'll still be alive as long as you remember him fondly. That's how I get through each and every day."

"She's right, that's how I do it too," Adrian nodded in agreement. He hesitantly bent down to the smaller figure right up against the window. "I'm, um, sorry it had to turn out this way, really I am," he told Benjy, "I meant what I said up there, I don't hate him anymore."

"I'm not upset, Mr. Monk," Benjy was in fact looking like a great weight had been lifted from him, "All I wanted for Christmas was to have him back for just one minute, and you gave it to me. For that I can't thank you enough."

Adrian smiled to know he'd done such a good service. "I, I couldn't have forgiven him if you hadn't for so long," he told the boy, "Maybe it's me who should be thanking you. You certainly do deserve praise for have the courage to take a stand against what he'd become. You should be glad; you're a man now."

"The type of man I happen to like," Becky put a warm arm around her boyfriend. The two of them shared a kiss that made their parents openly blanch and prompted Adrian to glance the other way and start whistling uncomfortably.

"Speaking of thanks," Jack had appeared behind them and was now giving Sharona a raised eyebrow, "Don't I get some for helping him save the day last night?"

The nurse shook her head. "OK, I think I might have stereotyped you a little too much," she conceded, "And that maybe you have learned your lesson and become a better man after all. I still find the fact that you abandoned Adrian for forty years reprehensible, though, and if you think that..."

"Mom, let it go," Benjy took her hand, "It's Christmas."

"Christmas. The day of peace and love for your fellow man," the Eppeses were approaching with coffee cups in their hands. "Good to see you back on your feet, Monk," Don greeted him with a hearty handshake, "I'm still wondering, how'd you know you could reach him by pointing out what he'd turned into?"

"I, uh, I didn't," Adrian admitted, "I was basically guessing."

"Oh," the color drained briefly from Don's face at the thought that it was luck that had spared them. "I think what Mr. Monk is trying to say is that Mr. Fleming merely corrected his affection pattern," Charlie attempted to clear it up.

"His what?" Natalie was completely confused.

"Well, if you buy my book on the mathematics of relationships, you'll know for sure," the mathmetician said, "But in a nutshell, I guess his mind came to realize that the accepted formula for a healthy familial relationship is to unconditionally love everyone, and compensated for the errors he had made in one fell swoop. Much like when you proofread the rough draft of a novel and correct all the spelling mistakes."

"Yep, that's basically it," his father agreed as he and others joined them at the window, "I think all fathers love their children all the time, sometimes they just let other things cloud their memories of it. But like so much else, it's not really how you start, it's how you finish that matters, that how I think of it."

"Exactly," Mr. Turcotte spoke up, "That's why I quit the C.I.A. this morning while you were all getting treatment. I don't want to miss anything else with the best thing that ever happened to me."

He hugged a smiling Becky close. Adrian nodded in contented affirmation. He looked out the window at the snow blanketing everything in a peaceful blanket of white. "You know what I think?" he asked out loud.

"What?" Ambrose asked him.

"I think for today, I'm the wealthiest man in the world," the detective sighed in delight, putting an arm around his father and brother. "Nothing else really matters as long as you're with the people you care for at Christmas."

He was surprised that no one commented on how strange it was for him to be saying something like this. Instead, the looked like they agreed completely. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw movement behind them. Apparently he was the only one to notice, for no one else turned with him to see Trudy and Mitch standing by the Christmas tree, smiling at him. Then, without warning, Trevor faded in between them. He glanced at Trudy with regretful eyes, looking much like he felt he didn't belong to be there. Trudy, however, put a hand on his shoulder and nodded in forgiveness. Mitch patted him on the back and did the same. "Welcome home," Adrian whispered, flashing a thumbs-up at his former nemesis, who breathed, "Thank you, Monk," at him, "Just be there for them when they need you, promise me that."

"Who are you talking to, Monk?" Disher glanced at the tree, clearly not seeing what the detective did. Before Adrian could say anything, an orderly came towards them with a phone. "Adrian Monk, call from Hawaii," he told him.

"Oh, I've, I've got it," Adrian gestured to Natalie for a wipe and scrubbed the phone down before handling it, "Mer, Merry Christmas Dr. Kroger," he told his psychiatrist over the line.

"Merry Christmas, Adrian," Dr. Kroger greeted him from Hawaii, "I've heard you've made a lot of good things happen this week."

"Well, I, I had help," Adrian admitted, "And you'll be meeting the people who helped me soon on a station near..."

"Is that him calling!?" came an all too familiar voice in the background. "Him!?" Adrian's jaw dropped, "He's there with you!?"

"Merry Christmas, sap," Harold's voice sneered over the phone, "Chuck invited me personally to come with him to Hawaii."

"You!" Adrian's blood pressure was going way up, "You sick, twisted fiend! Your depravity knows no boundaries, does it!?"

"Adrian, please, calm down..." Dr. Kroger tried to get him to relax.

"He says having my company's the greatest gift he could hope for," Harold arrogantly boasted.

"All right, that does it, you and me, in the parking lot of the center the moment we get back!" Adrian roared at Harold, "You'll be sorry that you ever decided to darken Dr. Kroger's appointment book when I get through with you!"

"Go stick your head in crocodile's mouth!" Harold taunted him. Adrian roared in rage. Stottlemeyer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, nice peaceful day, Christmas is," he muttered out loud, "Who's up for breakfast?"

"Absolutely," Don nodded in agreement, "Come on Monk, you must be hungry too."

He took the detective by the arm and gently led him towards the door, ignoring the detective's final defiant bellow at the phone, "Here's a little place you can go for Christmas, Harold: H-E-L-L! Yes, you heard me, Krenshaw, BURN IN HELL!!"

THE END

AND A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL